Road Map For Success In

Education And Career

N Gokarneshan

EMERALD
PUBLISHERS
Road Map For Success In Education And Career
N Gokarneshan

© Emerald Publishers, 2018

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microfilm,
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Published by
Olivannan Gopalakrishnan
Emerald Publishers
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ISBN : 97881-7966-466-7

Printed at : Aruna Enterprises Chennai.

 Contents
I. At College 1
1. Equipping students with emotional
intelligence
2. Stay tuned
3. Language improvement skills
4. Effectively cope with exams
5. Make an impression
6. Well begun is half done
7. Right mindset for research

II. Prepare yourself for placement 25

1. Benefits of preparing for CAT exam
Gearing up for CAT exam
2. Success in interviews
3. Cultivating the right attitude for success in
campus selection
4. Overcoming the deficiencies before joining job
5. Giving a human touch to your resume
6. Improving resume writing skills
Leadership Lessons – Inspiration From
The Eagle 56
III. Career Options 57
1. Opting for career in banking sector
2. Exploring career opportunities in public
relations
3. Footwear Designing - The New - Age Career
4. Success in job

IV. Career Focus 74

1. Manage anger life & work
2. Does success really breed success
3. How the world works
 Preface
It gives me immense pleasure to bring out the book
on “Road map to success in education and career”.
The book highlights on ways to upgrade the quality
of education for students of all courses of study. It
motivates the mindset for research at college level.
Effective listening techniques have been suggested to
improve class room environment. Attempt has been
made to bridge the gap existing in the teaching-learning
process. Language improvement skills are necessary
not only for success in competitive exams but also for
achieving success in career. Cultivating the right attitude
and approach in facing exams have been discussed.
Effective tips have been suggested for students to
strengthen their relationship with teachers. One of the
major issues faced by students entering into engineering
courses has been well addressed. Students going through
the transition from school to professional courses of
study meet with challenges. Ways are suggested to
tackle these challenges so as to cope with the academics
in a better way. After undergraduation students take up
competitive exams such as GATE, CAT, Civil services etc.
The steps to effectively prepare for CAT exam have been
well addressed. Facing job interviews in or off campus
is an essential skill all job aspiring students should
acquire. The intricacies involved in a job interview are
discussed in detail and the dos and donts have been
well elaborated. This would help students to face job
interviews with greater confidence. Tips to develop the
right attitude for success in campus recruitments have
been touched upon. Many students have deficiencies that
render them unsuitable for jobs. Ways to overcome these
deficiencies have been suggested. Resume writing is yet
another important skill that students should acquire.
The finer aspects of resume writing are explained. Some
important career options after undergraduation have
been suggested. Banking sectors, public relations , and
footwear design have been well explored and provide
ample career opportunities for aspiring students. The
book would prove immensely useful to students of all
courses of study at undergraduate, post graduate and
higher levels. Suggestions are welcome for improvement
of the quality of the book.
Dr.N.Gokarneshan
Professor and Head Department of Textile Technology
Park College of engineering and technology
Coimbatore.
 Introduction
Education and career are the two crucial aspects of
human life. Education gives meaning to human life while
career fulfills its purpose. Hence having right education
and career should ideally be the twin objectives of any
aspiring student. One may tend to think that choice of
the course/field of study and organization one should
work would become the right education and career. But
in reality it is the attitude towards the education and
profession that matters much. By merely studying in a
premier institute and working in a reputed organization
one cannot consider oneself to be successful in education
and career. When rightly understood education should
develop human values and profession should develop
technical knowledge. Thus a judicious combination of
professionalism and humanism is the dire need of the
modern age. Being a professional at work and a good
human being at work place is what is really desired in
order to create a healthy work environment. A good
student is one who respects his/her teacher and course
of study. This leads to success in education. Bridging
the gap in the teaching learning process has become a
great challenge in modern education. Both the teaching
and student communities need regular mentoring to
bridge the gap. It should be emphasized that discipline
is the foundation upon which success in education and
career stands. Discipline is the ability to the right things
at the right time in the right way. The twin aspects
encompassing discipline are punctuality and sincerity.
Education is the back bone of profession. Thus it would
not be wrong to state that professionalism stands on
the foundation of humanism. Students face two kinds
of transitions. One is moving from plus two to under
graduation (moving from school to college life). The other
is moving from under graduation to job/profession.
Success in education and career requires development of
two kinds of skills – Emotional and technical. Emotional
skills are needed to manage the changing situations
in job/profession. It should be understood that crisis
situations have become a common thing in education
and career. Crisis when rightly understood does not
arise from situation/circumstance, but rather due to
the inability of the mind to adapt to the situation/
circumstance. During the transition from school to college
life and from college life to job, one’s mind is filled with
misconceptions and doubts. It becomes necessary to seek
ways to remove such misconceptions and resolve the
doubts, as otherwise these would become mental blocks
in one’s development. In education as well as career one
has to go through changing situations. Devotion is the
key word in education and dedication is the key word
in career. One has to devote oneself to learning and
devote oneself at work. This automatically spells success
in education and career. In campus there are caring
teachers and in companies there are demanding bosses.
Students need to understand this subtle difference
in the two environments and prepare their minds
accordingly. In campus life the two great virtues that
students should diligently practice are punctuality and
sincerity. These two virtues when regularly practiced
in campus life would spell success in their career. In the
modern age, students live in an imaginary world relating
to their career/profession/job and nurture unrealistic
expectations. It is unfortunate that the expectations of
the job seeking students and recruiting companies do
not match and as a result sustenance in job becomes a
great challenge, leave alone career growth. Dreaming a
good future is human nature but it is important that one
should become aware of job realities. Such awareness
renders one to develop practicality in one’s aspirations.
The more practical one’s dreams and expectations
the less would be the disappointments. It is needless
to say that we live in a world of changing situations,
which would apply to education and career as well. It
is also a world of diversities and uncertainties we live
in. Hence acceptance and tolerance are to be developed
to live in such a world. Acceptance of uncertainties and
tolerance of the diversities are essential in order to live a
harmonious life.
The TEN commandments for successful career are
listed below:
1. Earnestness in learning.
2. Sincerity and dedication in application
3. Humanity in interaction
4. Performance in action
5. Perseverance in efforts
6. Patience in achieving results
7. Optimism in outlook
8. Industrious in work
9. Grow and make others grow
 10. Commitment to profession with human touch.
The whole of human life is a struggle between two
forces. One is a positive force known as determination
and the other is a negative force known as distraction.
When the determination gets the upper hand over
distraction success is the result and when distraction gets
the upper hand over determination failure is the result
(as usually happens).
In a global era competition is inevitable. Sustenance
in a competitive environment matters more than success.
Such sustenance can arise only from contemplativeness.
It would be apt to state that competition can be combated
only with contemplation. Contemplation is the ability to
focus on one’s abilities, which are unique. Flexibility
in thinking and firmness in decisions are some of the
key aspects for success. It can finally be concluded
that in order to sustain in a highly competitive world,
manifesting and establishing one’s unique strengths is
the only way to sustenance in the long run.
Climbing The Ladder Of Success

I Did It
↑
I Shall
↑
I Can
↑
I Think I Can
↑
Perhaps I Can Try
↑
I Could If Only I Knew How
↑
I Don’t Know How
↑
I Cant
↑
I Wont
Road Map For Success In
Education And Career
 At College

Equipping Students With Emotional

Intelligence

M ost educational institutions excel at developing

the intellectual skills of students and prepare them
for academic success. Teachers have to concentrate on
nurturing the young minds in the best way possible-but
what about their heart, spirit and emotions? Pause and
think-isn’t today’s generation marked by strong feelings
of anger, frustration agony, confusion and distress? Aren’t
respect, compassion patience, perseverance, hard work
and sincerity conspicuous by their absence? Ms. Amrita
V, Faculty in Soft Skills, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham
University, Kerala substantiates, “The intolerance of
students towards failure and rejection owes its origin
to fast paced technology, momentary excitement from
social networking sites and high demand from peers and
family to be successful. The emotions are channelized
only into the path of success, without any expectations
of fall backs. We are molding a generation of impatient
student community. They don’t know what to do with
their emotions and feelings, whether to express them or
to bury them or just how to manage them”. The impulsive
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 2

emotions themselves make them feel threatened and

overwhelmed and they manifest these by yelling, bullying,
inability to accept rejection or failure, unwillingness
to take risks and a predilection for safe ways of doing
things. As a result, they are ill-equipped to face future
challenges. All this is because they lack control on their
feelings or what is known as Emotional Intelligence. As
Dr. G. Srilatha, Senior English lecturer, P. B. Siddhartha
College, Vijayawada opines, “Today, our youngsters lack
emotional intelligence balance as they are carried away
by whims and fancies wherein they give more importance
to pleasure than values”. Mrs. Neha Singhal, teacher, DLF
School agrees, “70% of the students are not emotionally
intelligent these days as they get upset with small things
very soon, they are falling short of this maybe because
they are running after money more than their dreams
of becoming something. They just need easy money”.
Needless to say, students today face undue stress which can
wreak permanent damage as well as fuel a self-destructive
system of human society. So, can we still afford to ignore
the importance of cultivating emotional intelligence in
the children? And there lies the difference! Emotional
Intelligence is the ability to recognize one’s own moods
and behaviours, control them and as a social being, be
attuned to other’s feelings as well. Having control on
one’s emotions helps in more ways than we can imagine.
It improves brain functioning with better concentration,
attention span and ability to learn that translates into
higher scores and thus academic achievement. More
importantly, it inculcates character building-confidence,
responsibility, self-control, resilience, dedication,
determination, tolerance, flexibility, honesty, positive
N. Gokarneshan 3

attitude, sense of purpose, dealing with stress and so on.

As Mrs. Meenal Arora, Executive Director, Shemrock
and Shemford Group of Schools points out, “Emotional
Intelligence affects a student’s ability to perform under
pressure and also affects the achievement rate. It instills
good values, positive attitudes and the ability to judge
between right and wrong. It also enables a student to have
a clear aim and goal which makes it possible to choose the
right career”. The emotional wherewithal also forms the
building blocks of social competence that not just helps in
making friends but also reduces aggression and violence
and inculcates cooperation and communication skills,
thus enabling them to skillfully navigate the interpersonal
relationship waters. Obviously, this enhances career
prospects and prepares students for the workplace. The
overall development translates into a happy, fulfilling and
successful life with strong physical health in tow as they
are well-equipped to effectively deal with the demands
and pressures of daily living. As acclaimed psychologist
and researcher John Gottman sums up, “Once they master
this important life skill, emotionally intelligent children
will enjoy increased self-confidence, greater physical
health, better performance in school and healthier
social relationships!”
The what and how of emotional learning
After parents, teachers are in an un enviable position
to positively affect the development of a generation of
emotionally healthy adults. Yet, emotional learning is
not happening consistently as both parents and schools
concentrate solely on academic results, totally ignoring
the vital social - emotional quotient. Little wonder that
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 4

today’s students are over stimulated and lack the crucial

inner balance. They are at a loss as to how to express
themselves, let alone control the overpowering emotions
or even empathize with others. At this critical juncture,
school/college should broaden their narrow vision of
education by integrating emotional competencies as a
fundamental component of their culture, pedagogy and
curriculums. Educators too need to learn to value the
emotional well-being of their students and incorporate
emotional learning in the classroom. This is not as easy
as saying, ‘Be kind’ or ‘Be respectful’. Teachers have to
first be aware of the students’ emotions and help them
understand what they are feeling. Always try to calm
them down first and encourage them to talk through
the emotions. Listen empathetically and validate the
intense feelings by labelling them as love, fear, anger,
disappointment, excitement, humiliation, etc. so that they
feel supported and comfortable. For this, teachers have to
be understanding, patient, empathetic and able to guide
them in right direction. Mrs. Meenal Arora concurs,
“A teacher should work on the emotional intelligence
of their students by being sympathetic, kind and firm
but not strict. Teachers should exhibit emotional
intelligence in themselves and develop an empathetic
attitude to analyse and assess the Emotional Quotient of
their students”. Once the self-awareness and acceptance
sets in, use the emotional expressions as opportunities to
teach them to control their impulses and react properly.
Instead, model more constructive ways to express their
feelings. You may help them to come up with appropriate
ways to solve a problem or deal with an upsetting issue.
Use stories, role plays and audio-visuals, practice
N. Gokarneshan 5

techniques to relax, pay attention and incorporate

moments of reflection. Even Dr. G. Srilatha offers,
“Emotional Intelligence of a student can be improved
by creating healthy learning environment, constructive
thinking and by providing an opportunity to solve
problems and foster leadership qualities”. This will enable
students to rise above self-doubt or impulsiveness and
take responsibility for their emotions. Self–discipline and
motivation to control emotions, responding not reacting,
making responsible decisions and developing positive
behaviour set in slowly. In respectful, safe and challenging
climate, teach students to tune into others feelings and
accept them. As Mr. R. Sreenivasan, Director, WSB points
out, “We Need to find ways of making the learning process
interactive and collaborative. The dialogues and arguments
that would emerge out of such a process will lay emphasis
on every learner to prepare more thoroughly, take stance,
hear others’ viewpoints, and appreciate and accept
counterarguments, be more open to accommodating and
learning. Exposing children right from the school age
onwards to things beyond the books, encouraging them
to take interest and participate in activities beyond, is the
key”. Group discussions and team work can be helpful.
This will teach them how to manage, relationships,
negotiate, solve problems and resolve conflicts peacefully.
Ms. Amritha goes a step further and says, “Every
educational institution should have counsellors and
soft skill trainers who can help students to mend their
minds to respond and not to react.” This kind of holistic
development is needed for harnessing and controlling
reactions to situations and developing caring, trusting and
respectful relationships.
 At College

Stay Tuned
Is our inability to pay attention in the class room
because of the deluge of information around us? We are
surrounded by clutter of all kinds. Gigabytes of data fly
onto our computer screens everyday, millions of words
swim past our eyes as we scan our text books and notes
in a desperate attempt to read and digest information, and
everywhere we turn, we are bombarded by sound, images
and text. We walk into the class room and the deluge of data
continues. So who’s to be blamed when that old defence
mechanism kicks and we simply begin to tune out? We are
so used to being surrounded by unnecessary information
that we begin to lose the ability to pay attention when we
need to. During classroom lectures, for instance-what
is it that sustains our interest and keeps it alive? How
is it that we can watch a cricket match for a whole day
but focusing our attention on a lecture for 50 minutes
seems impossible?
Generally, we tend to place the responsibility for
holding our interest squarely on the shoulders of the
N. Gokarneshan 7

teacher. That unfortunate individual is expected to be

funny, smart, dynamic and compelling. This is a tall order,
especially when one has to deliver it day after day. Maybe
its time we turned this around a little bit. Can’t we do
something to make things interesting for ourselves? Most
of us have specific (or individual) interests of different
kinds – academic, professional, extra-curricular, leisure.
Its not hard to stay tuned in when doing things that
involve our specific interests. But there are many more
situations where we need to stay focused on something,
with consequences for not paying attention: in school and
college, and in life as well. When we enter a formal program
of study, there are some courses we have no trouble staying
interested in but there are others that we see as a necessary
evil. When the time for exams comes around, we often find
ourselves regretting that we did not pay more attention in
class. But how can we keep ourselves more attentive? How
do we stay hooked to what is going on in the class even
when we are desperately uninterested? Sustaining interest
To figure this out, think about the things that catch your
interest outside the classroom. Shows on television, items
in the newspaper that grab and hold your attention,
conversations you overhear on the bus that excite your
curiosity. Such things are of “situational” interest. They
have a way of hooking onto your emotion. Maybe you
find connection with your own life, or there is something
familiar that appeals to you. These are two major factors
that sustain interest-the sense of already knowing a little
bit about something that is presented to us, and the idea
that it relates in some way to us. This is why children like
to listen to the same story over and over again, and like it
even more if they somehow play a part in it.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 8

Nurturing it
Listening with interest is an important skill. The
interest is “cultivated”-that is, you nurture it by linking it
to ideas already in your mind. To do this, you need to listen
at three levels: one, at the level of the words being spoken
and their meaning; two, at the conceptual level where
you are simultaneously scanning your mind for anything
related; And three, at an analytical level, where you are
making linkages with other bits of information you already
have in your head. This is easier to do in some subjects
that others (social studies or language), and perhaps a
little more difficult in others (mathematics or electronics)
Which brings us to the second way to find a hook to stay
interested – reading ahead. This allows you to more easily
relate to information presented in a lecture and therefore,
stay focused on it. You will find that you engage at a deeper
level because you have already dealt with the “surface
meaning” during your first reading. You can actually raise
questions, explore different view points and grapple with
the material in many ways. You can make interesting
connections that require this familiarity-discovering,
for instance, a concept in biology that helps you better
understand a problem in physics. In both instances, it is
the ability to listen with your mind and connect different
contexts that not only keeps you interested, but can lead
to exciting ideas and discoveries(how else would kekule
link dancing snakes with carbon chemistry?) Although
students are told to come to class having read the material
for a particular day, its exceptional to find that they have
actually done it (one student said he would prefer to
be “surprised” in the class.) Learning can’t happen, and
certainly, cannot be “fun”, without engagement-on both
sides of the class room.
 At College

Language Improvement Skills

Language skill plays a vital role for spelling success
in competitive examinations. The verbal ability (VA)
and reading comprehension(RC) is a critical element of
CAT,MAT,XAT and other competitive exams and pose
a big challenge to aspirants. It is estimated that about
30-40% of the test takers are unable to crack CAT
because of their inability to handle the Verbal Ability
and Reasoning Comprehension sections properly, which
is one of the critical elements of the CAT and other
management exams.
Two pronged preparation
Preparing to do well in VA and RC would essentially mean
focusing on two main aspects.
(i) improving your ability to read and understand
language per se
(ii) improving your ability to solve specific question
types
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 10

The first objective obviously is a longer term objective,

and hence would require you to put more effort. The
minimum time frame in which you would start to see
any significant change for improving your ability to
comprehend language would be after 6-12 months of
extensive work. Once you have largely mastered the
language, the task is on improvement of your ability to
solve specific question types, which will not take you
too much time. The focus here has to be on developing
your ability to choose the correct answer. It is necessary
to develop the correct thought process for each question
type. Once you have these objectives on your preparation
radar, you should essentially divide your work on four
levels of the language in order to comprehend as well as
your ability to solve.
Word level ability
Development of language at the word level comprises the
following
(i) vocabulary development
(ii) improving your knowledge of phrasal verbs
(iii) improving your knowledge of idioms and phrases.
Development of question solving ability at the word level
comprises questions such as:
(i) antonyms
(ii) synonyms
(iii) correct/incorrect word usage
(iv) questions testing your knowledge of phrasal verbs
and so on.
N. Gokarneshan 11

Sentence level ability

This is not just the skill to read and comprehend
sentences but it also includes the ability to go beyond the
sentence and be able to predict what the author is going to
move on to next. You would need to be able to move from
understanding short 8-10-12 word sentences on familiar
topics to long 20-30 word sentences on unfamiliar topics.
This is imperative because inside most standard quality
aptitude exams (likeCAT/XAT) you are likely to encounter
language where the average sentence length is between
20 – 30 words. Sample this sentence from a CAT paper:
“Language is complex, specialised skill, which
develops in the child spontaneously, without conscious
effort or formal instruction, is deployed without awareness
of its underlying logic, is qualitatively the same in every
individual, and is distinct from more general abilities to
process information or behave intelligently.” The sentence
comprises 45 words and is the kind of sentence you are
likely to encounter in the examination and not the “cat
is sitting on the mat” kind of sentence. Obviously being
able to form the visual imagery in order to comprehend
such sentences becomes a critical skill while preparing
for this section. Typical question categories at the
sentence level include facts, inferences and judgements,
sentence completion, sentence corrections. The next two
categories are:
(i) Paragraph level comprehension
(ii) Passage level comprehension
Both the above are a function of your ability to
understand sentences – since a paragraph is effectively
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 12

a collection of sentences while a passage is nothing but

a collection of paragraphs. Thus, once you master the
ability to read and comprehend sentences quickly, it
is the stepping stone for tackling paragraph-level and
passage-level comprehension. Reading and understanding
paragraphs and passages is therefore a logical extension of
being able to read long sentences on complex issues. The
key question types under these categories are:
(i) Paragraph-level: paragraph jumbles, and critical
reasoning.
(ii) Passage-level: reading comprehension
For CAT aspirants, the preparation focus in the last
month should obviously be on improving your question
solving ability on each question type, as that is the only
thing that would be paying you dividends in the short
run. For aspirants looking at long term preparation, the
emphasis should be on developing your comprehension
ability first as described above before moving on to
question-solving skills in English.
 At College

Effectively Cope With Exams

As exams draw near, both parents and students
experience rising stress levels. Here are a few tips that will
help you stay tension-free in this most stressful period. As
the exam countdown begins, students start experiencing
stress, in many cases rising to alarming levels. Stress can
manifest as headaches, stomach pain, vomiting, dysentery
and even dizziness. Students with a previous history of
(or vulnerable to) epilepsy can develop a seizure and those
with migraine can develop migraine headaches due to
severe stress. Stress can also manifest as poor concentration,
memory, attention, calculation and comprehension.
Stress can affect their mood: this can make them cry, get
irritable or angry or very unpleasant. A simple request
to study can lead to a ruckus; losing many hours in the
emotional outburst and spoiling moods for the rest of the
day, if not a week. Students can experience stress due to
academic and non-academic issues: preparation for the
exams, confidence vs self-doubt, pressure from people
around, restrictions by parents and most importantly
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 14

performance in the exams. WHAT YOU SHOULD

DO? A comprehensive preparation with multiple
revisions is vital for outstanding performance. It may
not be a good idea to study in the last minute for such
major exams; but if someone is in such a situation, then
it could be prudent to study selectively depending on the
time available, than to exhaust oneself with the entire
portion. The effect of good preparation is high confidence
levels. The reverse is also true. Many students, despite
preparing well, will report poor confidence levels. Such
students must develop a habit of basing their judgment on
a test, results of model exams or ability to recite answers.
Arbitrarily developing opinions about how well they have
studied can have an adverse effect on their confidence and
consequently performance. Some teachers have infamous
ways of motivating students: they give lower marks than
the student deserves, the logic being the student only then
will not develop overconfidence and continue to study
well. It would be better to have a realistic self-evaluation
based on their past performance and present efforts.
Tips for Parents
Parents, teachers, siblings, friends, relatives,
neighbours, visitors and even casual acquaintances advise
the students on the need to score high marks. The overall
focus is to make the student score as much as possible;
preferably above 95 percent, being oblivious to both
the capacity and previous performances. If a student is
already stressed out, these external pressures can become
overwhelming. This can affect the student’s motivation
and ability to study, so do not over-advise children on the
N. Gokarneshan 15

need to study. If a student is found not studying during

the exams, what they require is not elaborate advice but
assistance and supervision. A parent or sibling may have
to be physically present, give them selected portion to
study within a time period and then make them write
the answers after 24 hours, which will show if they have
retained what they learnt. Some parents do not allow their
children to have adequate sleep; they expect them to wake
up in the early hours and study. The student is more likely
to waste time sleeping over an open book than learning
constructively. Without sufficient rest, the brain’s learning
centres will not be activated. So a lot of time will be spent
learning very little. If a student goes without sufficient
sleep, there is a high risk of going totally blank in the
examination hall.
Allot time carefully
Parents impose restrictions on television, telephones,
movies, friends and social network sites. Allotting
time for study and recreation is a better idea than totally
denying. Frame a schedule and see it is kept. This will
enable the child to maintain time discipline and also
know that during his study time he would be better off
studying. Exams are held to evaluate the knowledge of
the students in various subjects. Depending on their
ability to score marks they will be eligible for various
opportunities. However, high or low the marks are there
are plenty of opportunities in this world for everyone. It is
very important to be aware that exams are not a life and
death situation. Scoring little less or failing does not mean
the end; a few compromises need to be made to move on
in life.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 16

Sit, Relax, Write and Enjoy

Sit : Get seated comfortably. Organise your pen,
pencil, marker, eraser etc.
Relax : Read through the question paper a couple of
times; understand the question clearly. Do
not worry about knowing or not knowing the
answers.
Write : As the answers come to your mind, even if
you do not remember everything, you can put
together an answer based on your knowledge
Enjoy : Writing an exam is a life time event, enjoy
every moment of it. Naturally the best in you
will come out.
Coping with stress
Identify stressful situations and develop strategies
to overcome it. Encourage yourself; do not look for
encouragement from outside. Say to yourself ‘I can recall
all that I read’, ‘I will do very well in the exams’ and ‘I can
score high marks’. Utilise study time to study and avoid
unnecessary conflicts with parents. Do not think of study
as drudgery or be tense, enjoy the preparation process and
challenges of taking the exam .
Useful techniques
Preparation : Read and understand, memorise, recall
by writing a self-test after 24 hours,
read the missing points and then revise
repeatedly.
N. Gokarneshan 17

Mood : Do not wait to get into a mood to study,

build it up by focussing on how much
you want to score and how much you
need to study
Confidence : Have an objective way of developing
confidence.
Sleep : Very important to sleep well to feel
fresh to study and to write the exams
Memory : Do not check your memory by
arbitrarily recalling some answer. With
model tests, class tests and revisions it
is unlikely you will forget everything.
 At College

Make An Impression
Nowadays teachers of both younger and older
generation are complaining – as teachers often do – about
students. One was aghast that a student had the cheek to
pop up on her google chat window and ask her a question
(the night before an examination). Another teacher
was equally upset that a student who had not bothered
to participate much in her classroom was asking for a
reference letter. The first teacher clearly saw the online
interruption (and she had her “busy” signal on) as a
boundary violation. Students don’t seem to have an idea
about the fine line between informality and impertinence,
she said. The second teacher felt that she could not give an
honest recommendation to a student who she perceived
as having done nothing to recommend himself in her
class. He never submitted assignments on time, or showed
any interest in the course, she said. The teacher-student
relationship is a tenuous thing, shifting in important
ways as one moves from high school to undergraduate
college to a post graduate programme. In school, a teacher
is often a distant and serious, sometimes, a nurturing
N. Gokarneshan 19

and indulgent figure. The student is still a child, and the

teacher’s expectations of him/her are limited to “good”
behaviour (this might be defined variously) and attention
to studies. These are usually well recognized lines of
acceptable and unacceptable behaviour and crossing these
has very clear consequences – you would be told off in
class or hauled up to the principal’s office. When we enter
college, however, a lot of our frameworks change. Apart
from the college rule book(most often disregarded), there
are few explicit guidelines governing the teacher-student
relationship. While some colleges function as extensions of
school, most treat young people as adults who know how
to draw and maintain their own boundaries. The truth,
however, is that we often struggle with these fuzzy lines,
and must negotiate them on a daily basis. To complicate
things, college lecturers may be closer to students in age
and are likely to be part of the same generational culture.
Some of them treat their students like friends outside the
classroom and maintain certain informality even inside it.
Students usually model their interactions on their seniors
with the college grapevine serving to provide the do’s and
don’ts in relation to each teacher. Generally, the lecturer
expects some evidence of interest, effort, regular work,
and of course respect and attention in class.
Blurred lines
Then one moves to university, or a postgraduate
programme, and all of a sudden the boundaries become
even more blurred. The classroom equation is still tilted
toward the teacher, but the expectations of students are
again different. Students are now full grown adults, and
are expected to behave as such. The rules of engagement
vary widely across faculty members and you have to re-
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 20

learn the relational boundaries with each one. Some may

not mind informal emails and text messages asking about
assignments or readings while others prefer to keep all
their interactions in formal spaces–inside the classroom or
in their office–and through formal means, such as written
notes, scheduled meetings, and properly written emails
(no SMS lingo here). You cannot make assumptions about
this and must try to get a sense of what is acceptable to
different professors. It’s better to check at the start of a
course whether the teacher finds chats and text messaging
acceptable forms of communication. Some may provide
phone numbers and email IDs with their course outlines
and be specific about how they may be contacted, but
often these things are not explicitly stated. Many students
don’t recognise the importance of their relational
negotiation. While the majority finish their course, get
a job and never look back, there are some who need to
return to claim favours on the basis of this relationship.
Its important to remember that university professors are
looking at you not only as students in their classes but
also at your potential as future scholars and professionals.
They judge you on the basis of your interactions with
them and your performance in class–and this is more
than just the marks. This is the big reason why you need
to worry about making an impression at the postgraduate
level. University professors are the people who write your
letters of reference, provide recommendations to potential
employees, point you to jobs, and provide the first-level
attestation of your suitability for a position. If you want an
honest note of appreciation from a lecturer, you’d better
have done something in his or her class to earn it! At the
very least, make sure that you have not done anything to
create a poor impression.
 At College

Well Begun Is Half Done

The results of the first year (second semester)
engineering examinations were declared recently and
they show a disturbing trend. The pass percentage dip
considerably at the end of the first year: Whether it is
Tamil Nadu or Mumbai or Nagpur, the trend remains
that the performance in the first year is far below the pass
percentages obtained in the final year. These are the same
students who go on to do well in later years, so what are
the reasons for this poor performance in the beginning,
when they ought to be carried away by the force of their
preparation and enthusiasm? It seems like a natural
conclusion that after three years or so of being pushed
to excel in their board exams, the JEE, AIEEE and other
exams the students tend to relax once they enter the
college of their choice. Says Siddharth Dash, who is now in
his second year at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, “I know many
students who used to study for 10 to 15 hours during their
12th class.” In the first year this drops to about two hours
a day and in the second year increases to about 5-6 hours.
Though the spread of subjects in the first year is fairly
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 22

continuous from the school curriculum, the method of

teaching is different. “We teach more to get the concepts
across and we are less exam-oriented, which is what they
have been used to at school and in the coaching classes.
So they need to become more independent and it takes
them a while to understand, “says. P.K. Thiruvikraman,
Associate Profeessor BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. He goes on
to say that language might be a problem too, with reading
habits on a low due to shortage of time and English classes
receiving less attention. “Most teachers and parents want
to emphasise on Maths, Physics, etc.
Seniors to lend hand
He says that his seniors really do pitch in and help
out. Even in doing assignments, they are eager to lend
the juniors their laptops and help clear doubts on how
to prepare for the exams, etc. Pradymna Kodali, II year,
BITS Pilani, Hyderabad, feels that his peers may benefit
by counselling, but that is because many of them do not
understand what they want to do and have chosen their
streams based on their grades and not based on what
they are interested in. He also feels that homesickness
is a major reason why performance in the first year
dips. Perhaps some students also feel that the first year
only consists of common core courses like math and
physics and hence take it easy, whereas the second year
seems more important because it has subjects of their
specialisation. This is being short-sighted because basic
math and science is something that they will come back
to when they practise their craft. The first year therefore
requires more attention and those who manage their first
year well are likely to do well in the long run.
 At College

Right Mindset For Research

Research demands an inquisitive analytical mind
that is not content with the status quo, perseverance and
more. In an age where attention spans are as short as
the time needed to swap channels, do students have the
perseverance to take up a career in research? The need
to do research is linked to what kind of a society you
want to create in india. With a majority of young people,
given the demographics today, you have a society where
most of its population is dissatisfied with the status
quo. This dissatisfaction fosters the mindset needed
for research. Research needs an inquisitive mind which
is never satisfied with the current solution or state of
affairs. But it is not sufficient having a drive to research;
it requires discipline too. The problem then is with the
explosion of information – it leads to too much instant
gratification. Research is an open-ended problem, and
when a mind seeking immediate returns works on it, it
is easy to get disheartened and bored. An age when the
pizza delivery companies promise you a free dinner if
they take more than half an hour to deliver is counter to
the mindset needed for research. When looked at from a
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 24

different angle, an age of information explosion requires

an analytical mind. You need to parse all the information
that comes to you. In the past it was easy as you would
read a book and that would be the end of it. But today, you
have conflicting reports on the same topic on the internet,
and you need to be smart to be able to understand them.
Children brought up in the era of the internet will be
fluent in assimilating information in ways adults wont
be. Everything that is bad for you is good for you. When
the printing press came, people were concerned it would
spread too much information and that concern turned
out to be misplaced. The same argument would hold good
in this case too. Information by nature is good. Human
brain is like a sponge. The more information you have,
the more it would absorb. But in all the discussion about
information explosion, it was necessary to remember
that there were two classes of people in india- Those with
access to online information and those without. Hence it
was important to address the issue of connectivity, else
a huge pool of talent would be left out. From a students
perspective, there is lack of motivation and guidance from
parents and faculty. The faculty says that the management
concentrates on finishing off the academic syllabus and
there is a lot of pressure to keep up the grades. Certain
colleges do encourage students to do research. Parents
tend to believe that research is a risky proposition. After 6
to 7 years of research, he/she will become old. If your goal
is money, research may not be the right career for you.
The number of job options available also narrows down
once you do a PhD. But it is important to remember that a
research mindset offered a competitive advantage. Even if
you work in a company or run a company, a mind inclined
towards research would do better than a mind not trained
for it. It is like a story of a hare and the tortoise.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Benefits Of Preparing For Cat Exam

One of the most significant changes in the entrance
tests for admission to business schools has been the
adoption of the Common Admission Test (CAT) by
the Indian Institute of Technologies and the Faculty of
Management Studies, Delhi. However, other popular
entrance tests-XAT, SNAP, IIFT, NMAT, IRMA, and so
on-are still there. A good preparation done for the CAT
means 75-80 per cent of the preparation required for the
other entrance tests is taken care of. An extra section or
a few additional topics only will remain. The Xavier’s
Admission Test (XAT), the second-most popular entrance
test after CAT, conducted by the Xavier’s Labour Research
Institute and accepted by nearly 100 other management
institutes, is a paper-pencil test with three sections (data
interpretation and quantitative ability, analytical reasoning
and decision-making, and verbal ability) with differential
and negative marking. As there is differential marking,
test-takers should not attempt the questions randomly but
systematically. Extra preparation is required for the section
called analytical reasoning and decision-making. For this,
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 26

students should revise concepts pertaining to puzzles and

decision-making questions. They should especially focus
on practising the distribution-based puzzle questions.
Quantitative aptitude has been a nightmare for most
XAT aspirants over the past years. However, the XLRI’s
admission chairperson has disclosed that XAT, going
forward, intends to adjust its level of difficulty to suit more
non-engineering students. XAT also tests essay-writing
skills and gives 20 minutes for it. Students should practise
XAT - type essays. Taking mock tests before the actual
test is strictly advised. As XAT, the entrance test of the
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), has differential
and negative marking, students need to select questions
wisely. There are four sections in the IIFT entrance test.
A good CAT preparation will suffice, except for general
awareness, which focuses on issues related to national
and international events, world bodies, and foreign trade.
As in XAT, IIFT has had difficult quantitative aptitude
questions in the past. Students should work on their
speed maths as several questions tend to be calculation
intensive. As in IIFT, SNAP has a section on general
awareness. It is advisable that students brush up concepts
and facts pertaining to definitions (dendrochronology,
ekistics, etc.), economy, acronyms, history, sports,
science, and technology, and current affairs. SNAP has
four sections with a differential marking scheme. For
the section on reasoning, students are advised to revise
concepts pertaining to puzzles, number and letter series,
verbal analogies, coding and decoding, strengthening
and weakening arguments and non-verbal reasoning. For
the test conducted by the Institute of Rural Management
Anand (IRMA), additional preparation will be required
N. Gokarneshan 27

for the section on “Issues of social concern.” Most

questions in this section pertain to government schemes,
terminologies, economics, agriculture, and poverty. For the
other sections, a good CAT preparation will suffice. With
200 questions to solve, speed is a key factor in this exam.
As CAT, NMAT (Narsee Monjee Institute of Management
Studies Management Aptitude Test) is an online test with
the testing window from October 31, 2011 to January 6,
2012. It has three sections. There is no negative marking in
the paper. Test - takers can choose the order of sections but
there are sectional time limits. Except for the section on
reasoning, which has analytical puzzles, critical reasoning
and a few miscellaneous question types, such as odd man
out, analogies, and series, other sections get well covered
with a good preparation for CAT. On a final note, student
should definitely take mock tests to build familiarity and
customize their strategy before the actual exam.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Gearing Up For Cat Exam

The CAT or common aptitude test is the most
competitive exam for admission to business schools
in the country. It is organized by the Indian Institute of
Management(IIM). When the exam is a few months
away, a number of students would be fine tuning their
preparation, while others will be looking to somehow
kicking the inertia out of the system and starting their
preparations in the right earnest. Even when the exam is
only a few months away, do not tell yourself it is too late
to start now. Do not listen to anyone who says that there
isn’t enough time for preparation. During the earlier days,
students used to start their CAT preparation only about 3
months prior to the exam. The basic syllabus for this exam
roughly corresponds to maths and english taught in class
VI to IX. So if the fundamentals are reasonably strong, a
student should require only 200-300 hours of preparation
for this exam. What should be the plan of action? With the
olympic spirit in mind, let us think of this preparation as
a parallel to an athlete preparing for the olympics. Divide
your preparation into three phases.
N. Gokarneshan 29

Do the grind
In phase I, cover the basics for all the topics in quant.
Solve as many questions as possible. This is the phase where
one builds on first principles and gets the mind ready for
the tougher battles ahead. For the verbal section set aside
two hours every day to reading. Read lots of stuff and with
as much variety as possible. The topic, style, subject and
size do not matter (Fiction, nonfiction, sports, politics,
economics, science, anything goes). Just build the reading
habit and get the mind ready to receive written content.
This phase is similar to an olympic wrestler/badminton
player spending hours in the gym. This phase should go
on for about six weeks.
Build intensity
Start building intensity. Take section wise tests,
set yourself targets for sets of 15, 20 or 30 minutes.
Start practising for data interpretation (DI), and logical
reasoning (LR). Increase the intensity steadily by mixing
up topics and setting varying time targets. This is the
phase where you should select DI bunch, one LR puzzle,
two passages in RC, eight questions in number theory and
set yourself 50 minutes of high intensity preparation. This
is akin to an athlete training muscle by muscle and play by
play. This is probably the part of CAT preparation that is
heavily underestimated. People who are used to spending
10 hours in office or eight hours in college think that
writing a 2 hour 20 minute exam cannot be that taxing.
Taking a test for 140 minutes without concentration
“drops” is challenging and will not come without getting
the mind ready for it. The better you do this the less tired
you will get handling regular questions in CAT and more
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 30

energy you will have for handling tougher ones. This

should go on for four weeks.
Fine tune your preparation
Phase III is simple. Take mock exams. Analyse them
vigorously. Plug whatever gaps you find by revisiting
phase I or phase II. And when you analyse a paper, you
should focus on what kind of questions you have gotten
wrong, which ones you should have attempted but have
skipped, which ones took time without giving you much
in return, which questions you have skipped straightaway,
etc. Do not waste time studying percentile patterns and
such. Most mock CAT percentile scores are nothing more
than a distraction. This should ideally go on for about
five weeks. This is the phase where the athlete simulates
match conditions, studies opponents, figures out the draw,
etc. Phase I, II and III could overlap. If you plan well and
are willing to throw in lots of time toward preparation,
this can be done in 10 weeks. The students with intense
short term preparation have seen better results than those
who enrol into long-term courses but do not do justice to
them. For those who have been preparing for a while, the
strategy is simple. Skip phase I. Kickstart your preparation
now and focus on building intensity.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Success In Interviews – Useful Tips

1. Practice answering questions in advance and give
examples frequently.
2. Prepare a list of questions to ask the employer. Cover
job duties and management styles but avoid asking
about salary or benefits.
3. Answer the interviewers in a direct and concise
manner. Don’t beat around the bush or try to guess
answers to queries you don’t know.
4. Don’t let your guard down. No matter how friendly
the interviewer is, you must always remember that
he/she is not your friend.
5. Once you receive an interview call, ask for a copy
of the job description. Study it and correlate your
experience /education with the job description.
6. While at an interview, answer questions within 60
seconds or you will lose your listener. If you don’t
know the answer, have the courage to admit it.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 32

7. For an interview, develop questions of your own that

demonstrate your interest and knowledge in working
with the company.
8. During an interview, don’t bring up salary first. Do
some research before hand for comparable positions
in pay scale in other organizations so that you are well
informed.
9. Give yourself 24 hours before you accept or decline a
position in a new company. Understand thoroughly
the role you are about to handle and cost benefits
entitled to you.
10. At an interview, be prepared to answer the question –
Tell me about yourself with a few interesting examples.
11. During the interview do not get into salary details.
Say that it depends on the job, and you would like to
talk about it after a job offer.
12. This is a no brainer, 10 minutes early is not too early.
If something does come up at the last minute, 10
minutes is a lot of time to fix it, allowing you to arrive
on time.
13. During an interview, you will be put on the spot light.
Put some bounce in your step and energy into your
delivery. Smile and shake hands firmly but not so as
to crack the other party’s knuckles.
14. Reviewing likely questions in advance and being
prepared for interview will put you in the best possible
position for a successful interview.
N. Gokarneshan 33

15. Do not rely on the application or resume to crack

the interview for you. The resume is your marketing
piece, designed to highlight your strengths and get
you an interview. You need to reply on your individual
strengths and skills to crack the interview.
16. Pausing and saying thank you for the interview is a
great way to end, because the interviewers will likely
remember the beginning and end of the interview the
most.
17. Dress for success, formal attire is the best option.
Look the part and you will be more likely to get the
job.
18. Tell yourself that this interview is just a step in the
path of getting the job. You will do your best, but you
are not going to freak over it.
19. Do not show up too early as this may be an annoyance
to an interviewer especially if the waiting room space
is limited.
20. For an interview, you can ask questions to clarify
meaning or some procedural thing. Don’t be shy,
step up and introduce yourself with a firm handshake.
21. Send a thank you note to the interviewers or panel or
company regardless of how you think you did in your
interview.
22. Doing mock interviews with friends or family greatly
helps. Practicing likely questions to be asked and
being ready with responses greatly increases the
confidence of the interviewee.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 34

23. If you have job experiences that you are not proud
of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity,
you should just omit them.
24. Do not smoke or have a drink over lunch, even if the
interviewer does and offers you.
25. Attend an interview workshop, read a book on
interviewing, or hire a coach to guide you through
the process.
26. Try to dress one level up, or at least match the
interviewers attire. You can ask a receptionist or
interview contact for help, but a business suit for men
or women will be acceptable.
27. Try to relate what you know about the company when
answering questions.
28. Prepare responses to questions like “what do you
know about our company/organization”. Know the
interviewers name and use it during the job interview,
if possible.
29. During the job interview stay calm. Maintain eye
contact with the interviewer. Listen to the entire
question before you answer, pay attention. You will be
embarassed if you forget the question.
30. Using numbers and quantifying your achievements
creates vivid images in our mind when we read
them, whereas general statements like the before
examples are easy to skip and forget.
31. The decision to interview a prospective candidate is
usually based on an overall first impression of the
N. Gokarneshan 35

cover letter and the prescribed application or your

resume document.
32. Bring copies of your resume, the same as the one
the employer received. If the employer pulled your
resume from the net, your employment history must
match employer history in the resume you present.
33. Greet the interviewer using their surname if you are
sure of the correct pronounciation. If you are not
sure, ask the receptionist or the interviewer’s staff in
advance.
34. The salary question is not difficult to answer, just be
honest and give the figure.
35. Interviewers look for many qualities in a candidate
such as, personal attire, knowledge and experience in
the previous job, friendliness and sociable nature etc.
apart from your core skills.
36. Remember that during an interview you should
answer questions in a way which is acceptable to
the interviewer, but not necessarily right to the
interviewer. The goal is to create a lasting positive
impression on the employer.
37. Make sure your interview attire is neat, tidy and
appropriate for the type of firm you are interviewing
with. Bring a nice portfolio with copies of your
resume. Include a pen and paper for note taking.
38. Tell your employer why you chose to apply for this
position. Explain why you are perfect match for the
position and how you will do full justice to the same.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 36

39. If interviews make you nervous as they do to most

people, take tips from family and friends, on how to
attend an interview and learn how to prepare and
communicate in interviews.
40. You must be prepared to discuss the industry, the
company’s relative size within that industry and show
that you know who the major players and competitors
are.
41. For an interview, you can ask questions to clarify
meaning or some procedural thing. Don’t be shy.
42. If you are going to be late or unable to attend for any
unforeseeable reason call ahead and let them know.
This will show them that you are serious and that you
take your commitments seriously.
43. During the job interview stay calm. Maintain eye
contact with the interviewer. Listen to the entire
question before you answer. Pay attention – you will
be embarassed if you forget the question.
44. Remember names, think about process. Remember
your answers, be logical. Don’t space out and forget
facts that lead to bad impressions.
45. Attend an interview workshop, read a book on
interviewing, or hire a coach to guide you through the
process.
46. Communicate to the interviewers how much you
appreciate the opportunity and if you are nervous,
you can tell them. That way you can relax a little,
knowing they know you are nervous.
N. Gokarneshan 37

47. The salary question is not difficult to answer, just be

honest and give the figure. In all probability, your next
employer may base your salary on your previous or
current job.
48. Do not forget critical details. In case you are getting
additional perks, incentives or commissions, do not
forget to mention them, as they are important while
negotiating salary.
49. Body language such as eye contact and how you greet
your interviewer are important. Shaking hands is a
sign of confidence and respect. So is making regular
eye contact.
50. Interview is used as a platform to determine whether
or not you are qualified for the job position, motivated
to do the job and to find if you are the right fit for the
applied position.
51. Sometimes people don’t consider anxiety they feel
and although they are calm walking in, realization
that interview is happening throws them into a panic.
Understand reality and prepare yourself.
52. Effective communication is one of the most difficult
areas to learn and practice, but one of the most
important parts of the interview process, so polish up
your communication skills before an interview.
53. Speak up clearly in an interview. Don’t mope around
in a monotone voice, barely audible. Your quality and
pitch of voice leaves an impression in the interviewer.
54. Only one interview is granted for every 50 to 100
resumes received by the average employer. Specially
prepare your resume and cover letter well.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Cultivating The Right Attitude For

Success In Campus Selection
Campus interviews on the anvil? And if you are already
a bundle of nerves, just relax. Often, right attitude is the
key to succeed in any interview and campus interviews
are no different. First of all, do not imagine the interviews
to be rabid-fire grilling sessions. Instead, think of them
as simple conversations meant to exchange ideas and
insights. You can project yourself in the best light only
when you are not nervous. So try to make every effort to
relax before as well as during the interview. This helps you
to not only prepare well but also present yourself well on
the D-day.
Finger tips
Usually campus selections comprise of a written test,
followed by one or two rounds of formal interviews. Some
companies also include a group discussion in between.
Remember, there are no short cuts to success. Good
preparation alone can boost your confidence and put you
at ease. Here are some tips to help you handle different
segments of the selection process equally well:
N. Gokarneshan 39

Evaluation method
While technical skills and knowledge are important
to perform any job, they are by no means the only
parameters of evaluation. Employers assess candidates on
various other criteria as well. These are communication
skills, attitude, motivation levels, logical thinking
prowess, ability to learn, leadership qualities, flexibility
and adaptability to change. Collectively termed as soft
skills, these attributes add to the efficiency of a person.
To excel in interviews you must therefore hone your
technical skills and soft skills alike.
Written tests
These basically test your logical reasoning capabilities
and your ability to write well in english. You need lot
of practice to solve the reasoning problems quickly and
correctly. There are plenty of logical reasoning and mental
arithmetic books available in the market. Buy some good
books and start working out the problems to gain practice
and pickup speed. Solving puzzles can be helpful too.
Similarly, regular reading of good books, newspapers
and magazines in English will help you to improve your
vocabulary and expression.
Group Discussion(GD)
Here not only your ability to articulate your thoughts
but also your group dynamics and openness to different
viewpoints is judged. You must understand that group
discussion is not a debate where you vehemently present
your views. On the contrary in a GD, the entire group
must participate in the discussion, develop the given idea
and then present a complete picture to the coordinator.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 40

Since general topics are usually chosen for the GD, the
best way to prepare is to focus on current affairs. Read
to enhance your general knowledge and awareness about
current topics. Always be alert and make a mental note
of what is being said by various participants. This helps
you to present your points coherently. Also remember
to be assertive but not aggressive. To score well it is not
necessary to talk more. You will be assessed based on how
well you conduct yourself, coordinate with others and
present your thoughts. Your body language, confidence
and communication skills matter most.
Interview
As part of preparation for the interview thoroughly
research the company. Gather as much information as you
can about what the company is looking for. Then make
a list of qualities you possess that fit those requirements.
Revise your subjects thoroughly to answer technical
questions well. Also jot down important points regarding
the projects and assignments that you have done in
your college. This should include the strengths that you
have put to use , challenges faced , lessons learnt , skills
developed etc. This will build your confidence to answer
various general and behavioural questions. Tell me about
yourself is a most common question during interviews.
Prepare a short personal statement before hand to answer
the question confidently. However, be careful not to sound
rehearsed. Talk more about your study and work related
interests. On the day of campus selections, dress up in a
professional manner, carry some copies of your resume
N. Gokarneshan 41

and be punctual at the venue. During the interview, relax

and enjoy the conversation. Panic only makes matters
worse, so try and keep a cool head. Always use short
and simple sentences to express yourself. Be enthusiastic
and show interest to learn new things. Employers prefer
those who can generate lots of positive energy and spread
goodwill within the terms and in the organization as a
whole. So get into an upbeat mood and muster as much
optimism as you can. After all, your success hinges on it.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Overcoming The Deficiencies Before

Joining Job
Graduating from college marks the end of formal
education and the beginning of productive years in an
individual’s life. After spending some years acquiring
knowledge, you are now set to enter a new phase of life
that presents new promises and challenges. However, to
ensure a smooth beginning, the crucial phase of transition
should be handled carefully. The phase of transition starts
well before you finish the final exams. There is no fixed
point but it should ideally be sometime at the beginning of
your final year. While in college, you dream big about your
career. You look forward to beginning your professional
life with great aspirations and expectations. With these,
you also have some preconceived notions about your
abilities and your prospects in the job market. In other
words, you are some what overconfident about yourself.
So the reality comes as a big blow. The first few weeks of
experience with the job market leaves most of the students
shocked. They find it difficult to digest that their ‘simple’
short comings like ‘not so good’ communication skills
can prevent them from grabbing the coveted job. Some
N. Gokarneshan 43

students get depressed from such experiences and give

up job search or land in wrong jobs. The disparities and
dejections during the transition period are the results of
lack of focus. There are several factors such as your likes,
your parents’ likes, social status and friends’ perspectives
that shape your attitude towards work, job and career.
But you should let them all influence only to the extent
that help you to make the right decisions. The following is
some advice to choose a suitable field to pursue career and
to land in the right first job.
Listen to yourself
Introspection takes time, care and patience. Consider
every important factor like passions, abilities, resources
and constraints that can determine what kind of career
suits you the best. Do not get carried away by fascinations.
Start early
For most of the students, beginning a career appears
simple and obvious- finish a bachelor’s/master’s degree
and take up the job you like. They do not assess their
competence and eligibility till they see a few rejections.
They ignore what it really takes to realize their dreams. So,
career planning should start early; as early as when you
decide which course and college to join.
Plan meticulously
Once you are clear about the kind of career you want
to pursue, you should develop a fair idea about where
you should be five years from now. Take into account
the opportunities available in the specific industry, its
demands and trends. Then set your short-term and long-
term goals. The knowledge and skills you acquire at
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 44

college are not sufficient to win in the job market. Find

out what it takes to assume your dream role. Pave the path
to your goals while you are still in college. Talk to seniors,
teachers or industry professionals. Take up internship,
apprenticeship or short-term projects to gain experience
and understand the work set up. Part-time job during
vacation, job shadowing and reading industry specific
magazines and material on websites will also give us some
knowledge about what people in different roles do.
Ways to explore
Campus placement is an easy way to enter the
professional world. Maintain a consistent academic record,
pick up good soft skills, take up co-curricular activities
and try to get into the good books of your faculty and
placement personnel. Send your resumes to recruitment
agencies. Recruitment agencies can guide you through
the process of recruitment. They know precisely what a
company is looking for. They can provide valuable inputs
for tests and facing interviews. Some recruitment agencies
offer even training. Large companies allow students to
register with them and notify suitable candidates about
their openings. So, register with such companies and
make it a habit to visit their websites regularly. These
sites also provide insight to their corporate culture and
recruitment practices. Expand your contacts and start
gathering references. Leave a copy of your resume with
your seniors, relatives and other acquaintances working in
the specific industry. Once you have offers in your hand,
choose the one that gives promises and more exposure. For
a few years focus on learning than on earning. Be flexible
to alter your career path to suit the changing requirements
of the industry. Work hard and success is yours.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Giving A Human Touch To Your Resume

Resumes that stick to a certain format have a factory
generated feel and will be just another one among the many
resumes that land at the recruiter’s desk. This suggests a
lack of effort and makes the resume look artificial and
system-generated. Unlike earlier methods of recruitment,
recruiters scan through your resume to know more about
you. Hence, spend some time to work on your resume and
give it a human touch. How can you break free from this
mould of similar resumes? How do you take advantage
of your resume? How do you try to make your resume
unique? Here are some ideas that can help you make better
use of your resume.
Steer clear of copy paste
Most resumes include objectives that speak about
aspiration to work for a world class organisation. These
sentences are always vague. Instead of copying such
objectives, try to peak your mind. Either you want to
master a technology and come up with innovative products
as part of the creative company or you want to become a
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 46

master in managing people and processes. Introspect and

find out your goals and include them here without sugar-
coating them for this job.
Keep it simple and striking
Keep the content crisp and minimal. Just because you
have eight years of experience, does not mean that you
must include eight pages with roles and responsibilities
of each and every job that you worked till date. A brief
synopsis of your roles and achievements in each job or
company will be enough to include in your job. Use the
interview time to list all the additional roles that you did
as a part of your job. In some cases, candidates often fail
to provide their areas of expertise clearly. These must not
be lost somewhere in the roles and responsibilities of
different jobs. Make it a point to highlight your expertise.
Whether it is the list of software applications or tools
that you have worked, declare them in the earlier part of
your resume.
Eliminate the details
If you are looking for your first job, it is better to
include only key points about your project work that
relates to the job. When you are not sure of what to include
in your project, seek the help of experienced people who
are working in the job. They can provide you right advice
to include pertinent information. If you have more than
two years of experience, it would be better to eliminate
detailed information about projects you did as a part of
your graduation curriculum.
Simplify the design
Your resume might not be the right place to flaunt
your document design skills by including interesting
N. Gokarneshan 47

backgrounds and striking icons. Or, that you are nested

tables in world processing software, should not be reflected
in your resume.
Customize the templates
Either your friend has downloaded the template from
the internet or copied it from another friend. Put in little
efforts to customize the template and make it yours. You
need not redo the formatting. While making sure that
formatting is right in place, you might want to specify
information that speaks only about you. Let your resume
reflect your personality. If you want to be known as an
assertive, straightforward person, let the sentences in your
resume also be assertive.
Speak about yourself
While listing your interests, make sure that they help
elevating your profile to a new level. It does not help to
include a statement that says that reading books is your
favourite pastime. When asked in the interview, most
candidates say that they read magazines. That does not
earn any brownie points. Instead, it helps if you mention
in your interests that you like to read certain journals
related to your profession. You can iterate a number of
good articles that you have read recently. Thus, you get to
speak about yourself in your resume and use it to perform
better in the interview. A resume should present the
right profile about you and be well presented to catch the
recruiter’s attention.
 Prepare Yourself For Placement

Improving Resume Writing Skills

1. Your expertise, highlighted with both your educational
background, work history and your skills will give a
good first impression to your employer.
2. A professional profile sells your expertise to a
potential employer, explaining why you are the best,
and only candidate for the job.
3. When you reply to an email, stick to the same subject
and place your response at the top . Don’t delete the
content sent to you.
4. If an employer emails you, you can probably respond
via email. The key is to READ the email sent by the
employer and follow instructions.
5. Your e-mail alias, your subject line, and your content
all have to be clear and appear appropriate to your
recipient.
6. In the resume do not include pronouns such as “I”,
company street addresses, salary, or reasons for
leaving. Those can be addressed at the interview.
N. Gokarneshan 49

7. In your resume font size shouldn’t be smaller than

11pt or larger than 12pt, except for your name and
headings. Stick to fonts like new times roman or
verdana.
8. In your resume, leave out personal data, photos,
and unrelated hobbies, unless specifically asked for
by the employer.
9. In your resume, avoid using graphics unless you are in
a creative field. It is safe to use a border and shading.
10. Customize your resume according to the position.
You will generate many more interviews by tweaking
your resume and cover letter so that they address the
specific skills each employer needs.
11. In addition to the skills or needs listed in the ad/job
posting, the employer will have many more needs.
You should identify and address this in your resume
and cover letter.
12. Even small lies should be avoided. Apart from being
wrong, most HR departments do background checks
these days, and if some discrepancies are found in
your resume it might ruin your credibility for good.
13. It is extremely important to proof read and check
your resume. Proof reading it once is not enough, so
do it twice, thrice or as many times as necessary.
14. Most resumes provide a list of duties that each
applicant has been responsible for without explaining
the benefit of those skills to employers. Pin point how
those skills benefited the organisation.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 50

15. Do not jam your resume with text. White space

between the words, lines and paragraphs can improve
the legibility of your resume.
16. First of all make sure that your fonts are big enough.
Do not use too many capital letters. Your goal is
to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as
possible. Arial and times new roman are good choices
17. Irrelevant information such as political affiliation,
religion etc will not help you. In fact it might even
spoil your chances of getting an interview call. Just
skip it.
18. If you have worked with someone that is well known
in your industry, it could be a good idea to mention it
on the resume.
19. In addition to the skills or needs listed in the ad/job
posting, the employer will have many more needs.
You should identify and address this in your resume
and cover letter.
20. If you are going to use a paper version of your resume,
make sure to use a decent printer. Laser printers
usually get the job done. Plain white paper is the
preferred one as well.
21. Your resume should not contain the pronouns “I” or
“me”. That is how we normally structure sentences,
but since your resume is a document about your
person, using these pronouns is redundant.
22. No employer will have the time(or patience) to read
long paragraphs of text. Use bullet points and short
N. Gokarneshan 51

sentences to describe your experiences,educational

background and professional objectives.
23. Do not include information that might sound
negative in the resume. You don’t need to unclude,
for instance, things that you hated about your last
company.
24. Update your resume regularly. Add new relevant
information, courses, training programs and other
academic qualifications. Keep track of everything,
avoid sending an obsolete document to the employer.
25. It is illegal to discriminate people because of your age,
but some employers nonetheless do this. Why risk the
trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include
age on your resume.
26. As you write your resume, keep in mind the level of
job and salary you want. Be sure to create an image
that presents you at the appropriate level.
27. Including professional goals can help you by giving
employers an idea of where you are going, how you
want to arrive there. If you decide to list them, make
sure they are not generic.
28. If you have a gender neutral name like kanwal or
kamal make sure to include the Mr. or Ms. Prefix,
so that employers will not get confused about your
gender.
29. In your resume, using skill headings that market the
true nature of your job duties can generate you more
interviews and higher salary offers
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 52

30. Create a title for your resume with power words or

phrases describing your skills, competencies and
level of position that you are looking for.
31. Do not forget critical details. In case you are getting
additional perks, incentives or commisions, do not
forget to mention them, as they are important while
negotiating salary.
32. Employers will usually make a judgement about
your resume in 5 seconds. Try to be as descriptive as
possible, giving the employer a good idea about the
nature of your past work experiences.
33. Resumes that include a long list of responsibilities
included are plain boring, and not efficient in
selling yourself. Instead describe your professional
achievements.
34. You may have to send your resume via email to
organizations along with a word document Have a
text version for the body of the email or in online
forms.
35. Avoid attaching photographs to resumes unless
specifically asked Your picture becomes important
only when you are applying for a job where
physical traits are important (eg modeling tv
anchor etc).
36. If you never had any real working experience, just
include your summer jobs or volunteer work. If you
don’t have a degree yet, mention the degree title and
the estimated date for completion.
N. Gokarneshan 53

37. Some people write the resume as if the purpose of

the document was to land a job. The objective of your
resume is to land an interview, and the interview will
land you the job(hopefully).
38. Unless you are 100% sure your hobbies will support
your candidature, avoid mentioning them. Share
your hobbies with your friends and not with potential
employers.
39. If you are having a hard time to create your resume,
or if you are receiving no response whatsoever from
companies, you could consider hiring a professional
resume writing service
40. Your resume must have a clear focus. Make sure that
all the information you include will work towards a
unified image. Employers like decided people.
41. Learning how to analyze the key words that employers
provide in help wanted ads and job descriptions is a
key element in creating powerful resumes.
42. Tell them in detail how your experience would relate
to the position you are being interviewed for. Be as
detailed about your family background, educational
background and previous job experience.
43. Most companies are already using digital databases
to search for candidates. If your resume doesn’t have
keywords related to the job, you will be out even
before the game starts.
44. If presented with an application, fill it out neatly and
completely. Do not use “See attached resume” as a
response to questions.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 54

45. Most resumes provide a list of duties that each

applicant has been responsible without explaining
the benefit of those skills to employers. Pin point how
your skills benefitted the organization.
46. Try to understand the organization and identify what
kind of difficulties they might be going through. After
that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills
would help to solve those problems.
47. A good cover letter with a resume helps a prospective
employee to communicate his skills/competencies
more efficiently and ultimately saves the employer
time and energy.
48. We usually become blind to our own mistakes or
way of reasoning. So ask someone to evaluate the
overall quality of your resume and make appropriate
suggestions.
49. Remember you are marketing yourself to the
employer. All efforts that you can put in your
resume(in its content, design, delivery method and so
on) will give you an advantage over other candidates.
50. Most of the times your previous work experience will
be the most important part of the resume, so put it at
the top. When describing your experiences or skills,
list the most important ones first.
51. While sample resumes can help get an idea of what
you are looking for, do not just copy and paste one of
the most used ones. You certainly don’t want to look
just like any other candidate, do you?
N. Gokarneshan 55

52. As you compile statements for your resume, prioritize

them, by importance, impressiveness and relevance
to the job you want.
53. Typically the more specific you can be in describing
your duties in your resume the better it is for
employers.
54. If you have been working for 20+ years, there is no
need for 2 pages of your resume listing all your work
experiences, since age of 17. Most experts agree the
last 15 years of your career are enough.
55. The design of your resume must highlight most
important information about your work experience,
skills and education. This information forms the
image employers have of your skills and abilities.
56. Analyze not only the advt. that you are using to apply
for a job, you should be able to identify what profile
they are looking for and how the information should
be presented.
57. Use action verbs in the resume that will get noticed
more easily, and will clearly communicate what your
experience or achievement were. Examples include
managed, coached, enforced and planned.
Leadership Lessons – Inspiration From
The Eagle

lesson 1 : Eagles Fly Alone And At High Altitudes.

Stay away from narrow-minded people, those that
bring you down. Keep good company.

Lesson 2 : Eagles Have An Accurate Vision.

Have a vision and remain focused regardless of the
obstacles and you will succeed.

Lesson 3 : Eagles Do Not Eat Dead Things. They Feed Only

On Fresh Prey.
Do not rely on your past accomplishments, keep
looking for new frontiers and conquer.

Lesson 4 : Eagles Love The Storm.

Achievers are bit afraid of challenges, rather they
relish them and use them profitably.

Lesson 5 : When A Female Eagle Meets A Male Eagle, She

Tests Him For Commitment.
Whether it’s your personal life or professional, one
should test the commitment of people intended for
partnership.

Lesson 6 : Eagles Prepare For Training.

Leave your comfort zone, there is no growth there.

Lesson 7 : When The Eagle Grows Old, They Hurt Themselves

For New Feathers.
We occasionally need to shed off the old habits.
Things that burden us or add no value to our lives
should be let go.
 Career
Options

Opting For Career In Banking Sector

The IBPS exam is the gateway to the banking sector
that promises fast career growth and stable employment.
According to a study presented to the planning
commission, the banking sector has the potential to
account for as much as 7.7 percent of India’s GDP.
With the expansion plans of public sector banks, the
retirement of a large number of people in the middle level
management, and the introduction of new services like
bank assurance the banking sector in india will require an
addition of more than 7.5 lakh skilled people in the next
five years. This has really given a fillip to the aspirations
of graduates across the country who are prioritizing their
career choices. Several factors like fast career growth,
relative stability of employment and opportunities for
higher learning focused on the specific sector, provide
strong reasons for the youth to look at this sector very
seriously. The Institute of Banking Personnel Selection
will shortly roll out the first online examination of the
banking sector conducted on a large scale, the IBPS
Clerical Examination. Let’s examine the structure of this
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 58

first ever online examination and examine the test areas

and the types of questions. The examination will consist
of five test areas Reasoning, English Language, Numerical
Ability, General Awareness with Specific Reference to
Banking, and Computer Knowledge. These test areas will
carry 40 questions each, with 40 marks for each section.
The total marks for this two-hour examination will be
200. Wrong answers and multiple answers will attract
a penalty of 0.25 marks. To qualify in the examination,
test takers must secure separate minimum marks in each
test area and also reach the minimum qualifying mark
overall. Questions in Computer Knowledge will test the
basic awareness of the candidate to check whether the
candidate has the working knowledge required to perform
in a wired work environment. These questions will not call
for proficiency in any computer languages or flowcharting
techniques. When you examine the questions, you will
realize that the level of difficulty is moderate. Yet, very
clearly, the five test areas require different approaches.
Preparation for the reasoning questions requires study of
the following topics: Number and Alphabet Series, coding
and Decoding, Sequences, Symbol Notations, Puzzles,
Deductions, and Non - verbal Reasoning. A good deal
of practice is required to develop speed and to quickly
identify the frequently appearing patterns. The more you
work with the patterns of questions mentioned above,
the faster will be your ability to navigate through the
options, which can be deceptively close. The Quantitative
Aptitude questions test your ability to work with numbers
and basic mathematical problems relating to percentages,
time and distance, ratios, etc. Familiarity with school
level concepts is more than enough for mastery of this
N. Gokarneshan 59

section. The General Awareness questions test candidates

on various areas like current affairs of national and
international importance, achievements in sports and
other fields, questions related to the fundamentals of
Indian Economy, Banking Terminology. While no single
book or publication or source can be identified as a one-
stop-solution for preparation in this area, a regular reading
habit will definitely help. Since performance in the General
Awareness section is largely binary, (either you know the
answer to a particular question or you don’t) you can get a
substantial amount of time for other test areas if you have
been reading up on current affairs. The English section
checks your comfort level with synonyms, antonyms,
sentence correction, usage and grammar. One can
perform well in this section by revisiting the fundamentals
of grammar and usage, brushing up on vocabulary
and ensuring that a regular reading habit is part of your
regular preparation. The section on computer knowledge
should not pose much of a challenge to an aspirant
familiar with the common terminology used in relation
to computers, networks, the Internet and so on. This
section is relatively more ‘close-ended’ compared to the
General Awareness Section, in that the amount of learning
required is much more focused. Rather than width of
knowledge, what is required to crack these questions is
good grounding in the fundamentals of the test areas,
followed by a lot of practice with model papers and full
length tests. Good Luck for all the candidates waiting for
the IBPS Clerical Exam.
 Career
Options

Exploring Career Opportunities In

Public Relations
Are you good at communicating with others; do you
have a passion for creative events? Then you should be in
public relations. Elvin jacob, Senior PR Executive, Aim
high consulting, loves his job. His long stint as TV news
and advise his clients based on those observations, he said
“I work with entrepreneurs who speak with the conviction
on their ideas despite the risks and challenges involved.
Working on their behalf lets you be part of the action and
is an adrenaline high! If you are scared of bungee jumping,
try PR. Dilip Yadav, Executive VP-India, Corporate Voice,
Member Public relations consultants association of india,
finds PR intellectually stimulating. Freedom to deal with
variables is a big draw, he said. Being in consultancy
affords opportunity to traverse diverse industry sectors–
health care in the morning, aerospace in the afternoon,
life style brand in the evening. The best thing is that you
are never out of action, its as much as you can handle.
Meeting interesting/inspiring personalities is a big high
for kunal kishore, director, value 360 communications.
N. Gokarneshan 61

He is part of the news making fraternity, empowered by

being aware of all that happens around him.
Training
One place for training could be the indian school
of public relations (ispr) by fourth estate, an image
management advisory firm that handles clients across
sectors. It’s the first to introduce PR in regional/political
areas, brands/products, promotional/festive schemes.
PR is one of the 10 fastest growing professions in the
next 10 years (Fortune). PR skills have never been more
relevant or greater in demand, there is dearth of trained
PR professionals. PR education allows you to become
an entrepreneur in less than 3 years. It opens door to
journalism, marketing, event management, advertising,
while a journalist, event-manager or marketing
professional may not be good at communication. Student
applicants with excellent command over english, a strong
vocabulary, computer knowledge, positive attitude,
pleasing personality and readiness to be a team player
can be trained to be thorough PR pros. While any basic
degree is accepted for PR specialization, a UG/PG in
journalism, mass ommunication or english(hons) is a
safer bet. But no college/institute in the country teaches
PR as a marketing tool. It comes in bits and pieces under
mass communication. Students are not trained to be field
specific. ISPR courses include practical work to prepare
industry ready professionals. Simple graduates have risen
to heights in PR.
Prerequisites
Clearly PR goes beyond a paper certificate.
A communications degree only helps lay the foundation.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 62

You then build on it. Learning is a daily affair in PR, you

are as intelligent as your last mistake. A PR person must
be a good story teller. He needs good understanding of
the target audience(the recipient), the source(the brand
you represent) and the medium (print, electronic, and
online). Good PR professionals have strong verbal written
visual communication skills. Since the biggest consumers
of PR expertise are corporates, thorough understanding
of business environment and related social dynamics
are added expectations. Training can be had as part of
course project.
Professional approach
Adapt to team work, be prepared to handle different
human/organisational problems. At a PR agency you
service clients from all sectors liasing between the
company and journos. If you are on the client side, you
direct the internal/external communication–whether you
handle PR functions yourself or through outsourcing.
Corporate communication conveys coherently the
organisation’s activities and creates the right image to
people who matter–employees, customers, clients to
shareholders. Community relations refers to how a
company engages with the community/communities
it exists in–thinking beyond profits. Most companies
have woken up to this fact. Image consultancy helps
individuals(specially opinion leaders) create the right
perceptions of their professional/personal/social lives. It
helps managers address/speak to portray confidence and
capability. Crisis management is clearing the air about
an issue. It requires the skill to spot, analyse and solve
crisis using communications. Crises could spring from
N. Gokarneshan 63

natural calamities, lawsuits, competition and migration.

Organisations cannot have multiple people talking to the
new/old media. A law/media savvy PR executes steps in to
channel the communication that goes out. Internationally,
full fledged organisations are employed for this.
Women in PR
Women do very well in PR. PR would top charts
among equal employment opportunity sectors. The crème
de la crème of the industry in india and overseas are a well
balanced mixture of men and women. Women are preferred
probably because many PR functions require soft skills
commonly associated with women. Though both men and
women are suited for this job, but PR industry is dominated
by women. How tall is the corporate ladder? The chances
are speedier. After executive level, its senior executive,
accounts manager, accounts director, team leader and
well CEO. The learning curve during the formative years
is the sharpest in a PR consultancy. The highest position
in a corporate is function head. In a consultancy, its head
of business with profit/loss responsibilities. He/She can
take up international relations for a country. For details
look into :
• MBICEM/Bhartiya Vidya Peeth/YMCA-Delhi

• Mudra Institute of Communiations-Ahmedabad; Symbiosis

Institute of Mass Communication, MIC–Manipal,
LSR- Delhi.

• Journalism: MOP Vaishnav, Loyala College, MCC, Asian

College of Journalism
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 64

• http://indiatoday.intoday.in/bestcolleges/2012/ranks.
jsp?ST=Mass-Comm&LMT=0&Y=2012

• http://education-portal.com/best_college_for_public_
relations.html

• http://www.scholarshipsinindia.com/publicrelations.html

• http://www.simc.edu/

• http://www.mcu.ac.in/(MA in Advertising and Public

Relations (MAAPR))

• http://www.sbc.ac.in (2 year full time MA in advertising and

Public relations)

• http://www.xaviercomm.org/mass-media-courses/courses-
pr.htm (One-year full-time Diploma in PR/Corporate
Communications

• http://www.iimc.nic.in/training-pg-journalism-ad-pr-
syllabus.html (One-year, PG-Diploma, Advertising/PR-
started in 1981)
 Career
Options

Footwear Designing - The New - Age

Career
Footwear has evolved from a mere necessity and
comfort to a chic style statement in today’s ultra fashion
conscious world. Everything from flats, sandals and
stilettos to boots and sportswear rule the roost. In fact,
what we wear on our feet matters as much as the clothes
we adorn! With the burgeoning demand for fresh designs
and interesting concepts, the time is ripe to put one’s best
‘foot’ forward and make forays into the field of footwear
design. Another attractive factor is that India is emerging
as the leading footwear destination of the world with
numerous global footwear brands clamouring to enter the
market. In fact, India is the second leading country (after
China) in footwear production in the world.
Nature of work
Footwear designing begins with a plan to sketch
patterns and designs in scale drawings (either paper
sketches by hand or on computer-aided software or a mix
of both). Then it moves to creating samples prototypes and
refining the same for both functionality and aesthetics.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 66

It can be in leather, canvas, wood, plastic or jute with

embroidery, beads, metals . Once approved, the real
work starts – converting the conceptualized design into
actual footwear for wearing while assuring that they are
both easy to wear and do not harm the feet. Designers
are usually involved in this production stage at some
level or the other. It may even involve working hands-
on with complex machinery as well as solvents, glues
and dyes. Footwear designing has been rated as the most
technical of all design careers. Precision is the key – the
piece should fit well as there is no scope for alterations.
Safety, comfort and quality standards are equally vital. As
Sabbah Sharma, footwear designer with her own flagship
store in Juhu, Mumbai highlights, “Designing footwear is
not merely about aesthetics – one cannot concentrate only
on colour and design of footwear, its fit, size, comfort and
functionality is most important.” Therefore, the creations
should be attractive, comfortable and durable all at once!
Getting there
Leading vocational institutes across the country
offer various undergraduate, post-graduate, diploma
and certificate courses in Footwear Design, Management
and Technology. Any 10+2 or graduate qualification
will do for most courses. But B.Tech/M.Tech courses
mandate science/engineering backgrounds. These
footwear technology courses are also regarded as the most
progressive of fashion-related courses in India. Students
gain extensive knowledge of materials, patterns, design
concepts, design software as well as industry and fashion
trends. They also include fine art, anatomy, kinesiology
engineering and marketing aspects. Apart from these
N. Gokarneshan 67

specialised courses, a broad course in fashion design can

also suffice.
Personal prerequisites
Footwear designing is an immensely creative field and
demands ingenuity and desire to experiment and also a
practical bent. An aesthetic flair and eye for detail goes
without saying considering the obligatory colour, balance,
line and other design principles. Good drawing skills are
also essential. Aspirants should also possess the foresight
to both envisage and adapt to upcoming industry trends.
Practice is always essential to develop and hone your craft.
As Goa-based self taught designer, Edwin Pinto of ‘Janota’
brand fame states, “If one is willing to work hard, has an
insatiable desire to experiment, and is particular about
finishing and quality of each pair then shoe designing is
an interesting career option.” Innovation is his forte as he
designed footwear even using coconut and banana fibre!
Work scenarios
Being a vast industry, footwear design offers a wide
range of bright employment opportunities in technical,
designing and management areas. Different job titles
include Footwear Designer, Product Development
Manager, Quality Controller, Footwear Technologist,
Merchandiser, Marketing executive, Planning Executive
and also Trend Analyst. Most shoe designers prefer to
work for mass merchandising footwear manufacturing
companies, sportswear companies (Nike Adidas, Reebok,
etc.) or even designer houses. Graduates from top institutes
are quickly lapped up by international players and global
brand houses. Some choose to go the independent route
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 68

and set up their own design studio crafting exclusive

pieces for boutiques, fashion shows or even personalized
to individual clients. Footwear design is both a satisfying
and lucrative career option. Though the remuneration
varies tremendously due to the diverse job prospects, well
trained designers can easily expect to start off with annual
package of Rs 1 lakh and above. With the growing demand
for choice footwear what is stopping you from designing
smart and trendy pieces that everybody will want to wear.
Where to study
• Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI),
Noida, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai, etc.
http://www.fddomdoa.com/index.html.

• Central Leather Research Institute(CLRI), Chennai

http://www.clri.org/

• Chennai Central Footwear Training Institute, Chennai

http://www. cftichennai.in/home.php.

• National Institutes of Fashion Technology(NIFT), New

Delhi, Gandhinagar, and Chennai http://www.nift.ac.in.

• Government Leather Institute, Agra http://www.gliagra.

com/
 Career
Options

Success In Job
1. If you are easy to work with, your colleagues will
enjoy working with you and your attitude will be
appreciated by all in the team.
2. Realise that each of us have our own unique strengths
that can be used at work.
3. At work when you meet noncooperative coworkers
or clients who have unreasonable demands, learn to
empathise and understand why the person is behaving
that way.
4. To be successful at work, the most important lesson
is to give your best effort to every job assigned to you
no matter how trivial it may seem.
5. Always come up with new ideas on improving your
workplace whether it is productivity or increasing the
morale of the staff. New ideas will be appreciated.
6. Prioritise. Learn to be more productive and successful
by working on the tasks that are more important
rather than the tasks which interest you.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 70

7. Never try hiding mistakes that you have made at work.

You will only be more embarrassed if somebody else
discovers them.
8. Whenever you decide to turn down a project, make
sure you provide a good reason to your superiors
for doing so. They will then understand that you
considered the situation carefully.
9. Make good use of your free time at work to indulge
in activities like reading a work related book,
doing research or having a discussion with a senior
colleague.
10. Every person in the organization has a specific role
to play and contributes in some way to the bigger
objectives of the organization. Learn to give respect
to all your colleagues.
11. Never rush into making quick decisions without
thinking. Feel free to tell the person asking you for
information.
12. Do not be afraid or too egoistic to ask for help if you
do not know how to do a certain task. You will learn
only when you seek help.
13. You are not expected to know everything in the first
few weeks of your new job. Take time to ask questions,
observe and learn everything you can.
14. The skills gained from your present job should not
be wasted if you change your job. Find ways to reuse
your existing skills in your new job.
N. Gokarneshan 71

15. Don’t apply the same logic or technique on two

different decisions. This formula works only by
chance. Go with your own intuition about the
situation.
16. Do not conduct personal business during your work
day. Your goal is to stay focused on the task at hand in
your organization.
17. Realise that each of us have our own unique strengths
that can be used at work.
18. When speaking the emphasis on the right word is a
skill. Wrong emphasis can make people understand
differently.
19. Move sparingly and do not fidget. During a video
conference, every movement is heightened by the
camera.
20. Speak clearly and a tad slower than usual at a video
conference. Leave time at the end of each statement
for the complete audio to be transmitted.
21. Prepare for the meeting with an agenda, set times and
designated monitors. Make sure all the participants
have received the agenda in advance.
22. If your boss has a difficult management style-it
does’nt mean you have to take it. Respond with
professionalism.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 72

23. Learn better communication skills to ease and

improve your relationships with management and
co-workers.
24. Make sure that at your work place, you show interest
and enthusiasm in working for the employer.
25. Be well prepared for office meetings. Being well
aware of happenings around you in your work place
is essential.
26. In your own time research the latest trends in your
field. Keep yourself abreast of information/issues in
your industry.
27. Be a team player at work. Develop the skill of
understanding group dynamics and use it to your
advantage.
28. Be alert while at work. If you have a crisis in your
hands, be calm and composed. Avoid unnecessary
drama at work.
29. At work, always clarify your doubts. Do not hesitate
to ask if you do not understand an instruction or fact.
Your boss will also appreciate it in the long run.
30. Keep in constant touch with your boss about your
performance. Ask about moving ahead and what you
need to do to get ahead.
N. Gokarneshan 73

31. Show your kindness and appreciation to everyone

who is kind enough to help you out on the first few
days of work or while learning a task.
32. An official e-mail is a direct reflection of your
capabilities and professionalism. Word it carefully
and keep it formal.
33. While changing careers, find out if any specialized
skills are required for your new career and also
calculate the maximum growth prospects.
34. If there are a lot of people on the conference call,
introduce yourself when you speak.
 Career
Focus

Managing Anger At Work

In the fiercely competitive world that we live today,
the most widely accepted truth is the growing stress
and tension in our lives. People going through anxious
moments are a common sight whether at home or in the
street. The cause of worry could be anything from a missed
bus or broken down car on the road to a power cut at home
that shuts off your favourite prime time show on the TV.
Workplace cannot be an exception to this phenomenon.
Being a meeting place of so many tensed up souls with a
variety of mindsets and beliefs, some of whom compete
with one another for better performance, recognition of
benefits, no wonder workplace is a breeding ground for
tension. It doesn’t take much time for tension to escalate
into frustration, stress and angry outbursts. Organisations
have to pay a price in terms of reduced productivity and
high legal and medical costs when angry employees go on
the rampage and end up on the wrong side of the law or on
a hospital bed. Its quite possible that verbal and physical
abuse by angry employees could land them and also their
organization in court cases. Its equally true and proven
N. Gokarneshan 75

that angry people suffer risk of high blood pressure and

are more prone to heart ailments. When conflict escalates
at workplace, managers have a major role to play in
pre-empting its violent and damaging consequences.
While work pressure could be a major contributing factor
to anger issues, it is likely that the rage at office has its
roots at home. It is for the managers to pick up the clues
given by employees through their words and deeds as to
the cause of their fury and come up with ways to tackle the
situation. Even then if violence, it reflects poorly on the
ability of the managers, who despite being in a position
to read anger signs early and take suitable remedial
measures, have failed to do so.
Strategies for managers
Managers may employ mild or strong strategies,
as the situation demands, to deal with workplace anger
issues. They may seek emotional help from a psychologist
or psychiatrist for the affected employees. At the same
time, they may try to control the anger of an employee
by expressing their own feelings about the situation along
with the reasons that led them to such conclusion so
that he or she may see reason. Strong strategies, that go
deeper into the issue, call for decisive steps. They are the
real managerial methods that impose strict conditions
on every employee to complete a task. It could be asking
an employee to set a time frame for his assignments to
be completed to let others have clarity on their portion
of the task so that conflicts could be avoided. Inherent
to this strategy is a strict warning followed by action for
non compliance.
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 76

Tips for workplace anger management

Keeping your eyes and ears open for symptoms of
anger–abnormal quietness, avoiding eye-to-eye contact
and bowed head are some of them. Be aware of negative
impact of angry outbursts on other employees. Say sorry
to those targeted by the outbursts to boost their morale
and mend ties. If angry staff prefer to open up, let them do
the talking while you listen.
A survey on the impact of anger at workplace says
85% of employees from a sample reported encountering
conflict at office while 22% believed it led to illness. Ten
percent of those surveyed went a step ahead and blamed
it for total project failure. It is for managers to decide how
much they think their organisations are hit by this menace
and how prepared they need to be to tackle it.
Every individual, at some point in his career
experiences an imbalance between his professional and
personal lives. In most cases, work yanks away the time
meant for your loved ones. If you allow this to continue the
quality of your life deteriorates. The feeling of guilt slowly
transforms your general temperament; your approach to
life changes and that reflects on your work and success.
Maintaining work-life balance is necessary because
imbalance wreaks chaos in life. Increased pressure on one
side will affect the other side too. After all, the two cannot
be completely disconnected. So the moment you notice
that you are not able to balance between them, you have
to take corrective measures. The first step towards this is
finding the cause for the imbalance. Some of the potential
causes are you are genuinely overloaded with work, you
N. Gokarneshan 77

are incompetent, your time management skills are poor or

you chase conflicting goals. Once you identify the problem,
you should admit it and work towards overcoming it. All
this will take some time. However, while focussing on
dealing with the specific cause, there are certain practices,
which can help you reduce the time to get back on track
and prevent trying situations from getting worse.
Follow an action plan
When you are better organised, your efficiency
increases. So when you are assigned new or additional
tasks, revisit your daily schedule and action plan. Make a
list of activities and prioritise them. This should be done
on daily, weekly and monthly basis. Plan in advance how
you will deal with impending additional responsibilities
like a business get-together or a parent-teacher meeting.
If you have to spend extra time at the office, inform your
family about it and seek their support. If you have to
take leave, inform your boss. Assure him that you would
complete the work on time.
Show you care
When your organisation is going through a change,
there is a crisis or you are vying for a promotion, it can
be inevitable to spend more time at work So explore
alternative ways to show your loved ones that you care.
Simple gestures like asking them how they spent the
day, calling once during the day, helping them with their
activities (when you are at home) and buying presents
can do the magic. The point here is to assure your family
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 78

and friends that you will not forget or ignore though you
are busy.
Leave work at office
When you are with your family and friends, make the
most of the time. Do not think about work at least during
the ‘special’ time you allotted for them. Similarly, do not
carry your personal problems to work. Avoid being away
from office for long time and spending working hours on
personal phone calls.
Negotiate with employer
When excess work is disrupting your personal life,
negotiate with your employers on options like work from
home and flexible time. Make sure that the arrangement
of working late every day and on weekends does not
continue for a long time.
Take Care
Pay attention to your health. Sleep well. Spend
time on activities that can help beat fatigue. Allot time
for physical exercises, yoga or sports. When you are
already overworked, this idea may seem ridiculous. But,
it actually helps you stay healthy, happy and positive in
stressful periods. There are no standard rules for achieving
work-life balance. More than achieving it, maintaining it
is difficult. So be conscious about your state of mind and
time you are spending on each aspect of your life. If there
is deviation explore ways to deal with it. Last, but not least,
prioritise your life as follows
N. Gokarneshan 79

• Give first priority to yourself–because your family and

profession depends on you
• Give second priority to your family–because your
happiness in your family motivates you to work
• Give third priority to your work–because your job
supports your family financially.
All these aspects have their own importance in our
lives and therefore none should be neglected.
 Career
Focus

Does Success Really Breed Success

Contrary to popular belief that success begets further
success, it often produces failures. This is why visionary
leaders and organisations with unparalleled track records
seem to abruptly fall by the wayside. As Mike Myatt,
author of Leadership Matters… The CEO Survival
Manual puts it, “ The reality is that past success, in and
of itself, does not necessarily serve as an indicator of
future success.” Success does not breed success as a role.
In fact, after achieving great successes, organisations tend
to reach a plateau where they stagnate or stall. Even top-
achievers slide back into a downward spiral, plummeting
into the depths of non-entity. For instance, a talented
employee performs outstandingly well fuelled by sheer
genius and hard work. The organisation rises to the top
and the employee attains high-powered executive status.
However, soon the employee runs the company to the
ground and both lose the elevated position. And success
lives up to being a predictor of failure! Successful people
often turn egotistical-superciliously imagining themselves
to be invulnerable, infallible and indestructible. Deeming
N. Gokarneshan 81

themselves to be the best, they become rigid and

hardwired in their methods, thinking and behaviour.
The overriding belief that they know more than others
makes them shut their minds and refuse to hear what
others have to say. Employees in such organisations lives
in a denial mode and refuse to open up to new learning.
Mr. Ramesh Loganathan, Vice-President and Centre
Head, Progress Software attributes, “The value coming
from our team was limited to just the tasks and much
lower than what the teams were capable of. Also, there
were ample opportunities for interesting solutions and
enablers that can be used across our product portfolio
these opportunities were not realised as the teams were
not in a ‘thinking mode”. Often, managements too,
unwittingly surround themselves with yes-men who will
stroke their ego as they bask in reflections of success.
No thought is spared to progressing to new levels or
sustaining creative thinking. An educator and coach
comments,” As is human instinct, we become comfortable
with these actions; with every success, we reinforce an
ingrained pattern of thinking or normal method of doing
business. In most cases, this is within reason and perfectly
acceptable. The problem occurs when our patterns of
behaviour become so ingrained that we become creatures
of habit, individuals who fail to recognise and adapt to a
changing environment, who become resistant to change
based on our past successes (wins)”. It’s an archetypal case
of success going to the head and dulling the senses. Such
organisations prefer to rest on their laurels and think that
their past successes will render further glories. What turns
prejudicial is that clinging to the past and basking in the
glories of yore seems much more comforting than the
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 82

realities of today. Nobody wants to think about the future.

Mr. Randeep Singh Sisodia, Director-HR, Amway India
observes, “Nearly everyone in the corporate world buys
into the axiom that ‘the only thing constant is change’, yet
few work on it. Hence, many times innovation becomes
a one-time activity and post success, one goes into
complacency. He continues, “It is natural for successful
people to fall into the trap of basking in their past glories!”.
Employees start misreading the signs- opportunities and
challenges are misconstrued as threats. Over time, they
inflexibly base decisions of current business situation
on past successes and refuse to adapt to the changing
scenarios. By neglecting continuous improvement and
innovation, they inadvertently prime themselves for
failure. To sum up, Prof. Gary Hamel and late Prof.
C.K. Prahalad accurately identify two reasons why top
companies fail, “Inability to escape the past and inability
to invent the future”.
 Career
Focus

How The World Works

(Understanding this will make youngsters more
confident)
Education Must Be Practical And Prepare Students
For The Working World
Students Must Be Active Learners-Not Passive
Recipients Of Knowledge.
While most educationists and students would agree
with the statements above, there is a wide gap between
what happens in reality. Ask anyone what subjects are
taught in a typical school and most people will be able
to say maths, physics, biology etc. This is the “world of
subjects” – the one students are familiar with the most.
The bad news is that once you leave school (or college for
that matter), the world of subjects ceases to exist. Few ask
if you are an expert in physics or in biology (unless you
are in the academic field) anymore. What people do ask is
if you are an expert in an area within the world of work,
Road Map For Success In Education and Career 84

for example in architecture; in medicine; in law; in acting

and so forth. Why should understanding the world of
work be a necessity? There are two reasons for that. First,
deciding on what we want to do in our careers requires us
to understand the working world. We hear many students
say “I want to become a banker” without knowing what
the world of finance is or “I want to become a software
engineer” without understanding what information
technology is. If you do not know about, say, the “Energy
and natural resources” sector, how can you even consider
careers within that which may be perfectly suited for you?
Opportunity
Another detailed example: what comes to mind when
you think about the health science area? Most people
think of doctors and nurses, but there are so many more
opportunities. There is the field of “Medical devices” where
companies are now building low cost portable devices for
India; There is “health insurance” where increased FDI is
being proposed; The massive “Pharmaceutical industry”
which develops and sells lifesaving drugs and “Provider
services” – providing medical care that is now extending
into medical tourism in India. Each of these areas in the
health science field offers a unique opportunity to students
of science, commerce and the humanities. Indeed, it does
not matter which subject group students have taken –
even a commerce graduate can work in the health care
field. Now imagine the opportunities available when you
understand the entire world of work. The second benefit
is more intangible. Understanding the working world
makes youngsters more confident. We hear people often
N. Gokarneshan 85

say that after understanding the working world, they are

far more outgoing, bolder and are able to ask a lot more
pertinent questions when they meet people from different
walks of life.
Different sectors
So how do we learn about this fascinating world of
work? Well, similar to the different academic subjects, we
have different “sectors” that comprise the world of work.
For instance, agriculture is a sector; architecture, health
science, law and order, information technology are some
of the others. The exciting part about learning about
these sectors is that the learning is that the learning can
be applied to the real world immediately. Students learn
to link what they learn in the classroom to the sectors,
thus understanding how academic knowledge can be
applied. Knowing how the world works transforms the
attitude and approach of students (in school or college)
to learning. They learn to figure out how what they have
learned applies to the world of work. They truly become
“active learners”, well prepared for the world of work.
 Motivating Quotes
Excellence And Genius Are Inherent In All. Their
Manifestaion Depends On One’s Inherent Nature,
Tendencies And Personal Circumstances.
Excellence Is Ability To Do The Right Thing At The
Right Time In The Right Way.
Genius Is The Ability To Transform Complexity Into
Simplicity.